North Carolina got out to an early lead, worked the margin up to 25 and settled for an 84-74 road win over N.C. State. (2/26)
A one-two punch from Tar Heels Armando Bacot and Brady Manek lifted Carolina to a 20-3 lead that set the tone for the day. Early hightlights included a Manek pass to Bacot for a dunk and a one-of-those-days Manek three pointer that bounded high off the top of the backboard and dropped in.
The Tar Heels led the Wolfpack at the half earlier in the season by 25 and led this time by 17, 46-29 at the break.
Unfortunately, Carolina’s Leaky Black went down with a hyperextended knee injury in the first half to put a damper on the effort.
Reserve Puff Johnson came in for Black and played his best game as a Tar Heel, scoring a career-high 16 points. A long pass from Caleb Love to Johnson for a layup with 7:16 left in the game gave Carolina its biggest lead of the game at 73-48. Prior to that, Johnson hit back-to-back threes from the same spot on the left sideline.
“Puff was ready when his time came,” said UNC coach Hubert Davis, who added that he and the other Tar Heels were efficient on both ends of the court.
With Bacot in foul trouble and UNC turning over the ball, State used three three-points and an old-fashioned three-point play to outscore the Heels 26-11 the rest of the way to make the final score respectable.
But the game was never in doubt as Carolina outshot State 52 percent to 38 percent and outrebounded the Pack 46-25.
Bacot was the catalyst for the Heels with 28 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks.
“Armando was good around the rim,” Coach Davis said. “He was there to block or alter their shots… We fed Armando and he was great, fantastic. He finished around the basket.”
Two other Tar Heels scored in double figures with Manek and Love adding 16 points each.
Terquavion Smith led State, now 11-18 and 4-14 in the conference, with 20 points.
Carolina improves to 21-8 and 13-5 in the conference with Syracuse coming to Chapel Hill Monday night.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.